Women Building Peace and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict-Affected Contexts: A Review of Community-Based Approaches

Author/Editor(s): Annalise Moser

"Women Building Peace and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict-Affected Contexts: A Review of Community-Based Approaches" focuses on specific thematic areas of good practice in the areas of prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and women's participation in peacebuilding. The study was developed as a background document to inform programming and advocacy within the context of UNIFEM programming, and builds on country-level visits conducted in early 2007.

The study looks at five areas of intervention:

• Peacebuilding and conflict resolution initiatives
• Reconciliation mechanisms
• Increasing access to justice
• Access to support services
• Conflict monitoring systems

Each of these sections examines the barriers women face, and highlights examples of women’s successful engagement in peacebuilding that were selected on the basis of being simple yet innovative and explicitly community-based.

In conclusion, the study makes some preliminary observations about the kinds of initiations that women have been engaged in at the community level, but notes that the long-term effectiveness of community-based approaches to bringing peace and security for women, men, girls and boys cannot be isolated from national-level and international efforts to implement UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.